As the 1.7-mile-long asteroid 1998 QE2 began its relatively close flyby of Earth, telescope images were provided during a live broadcast from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, seen on NASA Television and nasa.gov. Among the insight provided from asteroid experts at JPL and the Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex, which used radar to track and image the asteroid — a discovery that QE2 has an orbiting moon about 600 meters wide. The program also featured NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden, who discussed the agency’s role in keeping the planet safe from asteroids and other Near Earth Objects. The May 31 QE2 fly-by — some 3-point-6 million miles from Earth is asteroid’s the closest approach to our planet for at least the next two centuries.